Women in nearly every industry have experienced sexual abuse

Sexual harassment isn’t just about Hollywood, not by a long shot — it’s an insidious and wide-reaching problem.

Over the last few years, women have come forward in the sciences, trucking, retail, tech, and many other industries to tell their stories of harassment and assault on the job or at school.

These stories go far beyond Harvey Weinstein, the high-powered Hollywood producer who was fired after allegedly harassing and assaulting women for decades. (Weinstein has apologized for his behavior but denied allegations of rape through a spokesperson.)

Despite the fact that these reports come from a variety of fields, almost all of them have a similar theme: Women who eventually came forward had been harassed, assaulted, or shamed by men in positions of power.

That power allowed these men to intimidate women with little consequence. (The harassment is mostly, though not exclusively, directed at women.) Even when universities or other institutions caught wind of the harassment, the investigations often concluded without any direct action taken.

Every woman I know has either been talked down to, had her opinion dismissed, been ignored in meetings, or received inappropriate comments.

— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) October 11, 2017

Here’s just a small sampling of some of the stories of sexual assault and harassment in many industries:

Advertising

More Than 50% of Women in Advertising Experience Sexual Harassment, Study Finds:

“In March, the male chief executive of ad agency J. Walter Thompson was sued by a female subordinate who accused him of an ‘unending stream of racist and sexist comments, as well as unwanted touching.’ Gustavo Martinez, who has denied the allegations, resigned shortly after the lawsuit was filed.”

Read more from The Wall Street Journal.

Agriculture

Rape in the fields (documentary):

“FRONTLINE and Univision partner to tell the story of the hidden price many migrant women working in America’s fields and packing plants pay to stay employed and provide for their families. This investigation is the result of a yearlong reporting effort by veteran FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman, the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.”

Watch the documentary from Frontline.

Astronomy

Famous Berkeley Astronomer Violated Sexual Harassment Policies Over Many Years:

“After a six-month investigation, Geoff Marcy — a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has been mentioned as a potential Nobel laureate — was found to have violated campus sexual harassment policies between 2001 and 2010. Four women alleged that Marcy repeatedly engaged in inappropriate physical behavior with students, including unwanted massages, kisses, and groping.”

Marcy later resigned from his position at Berkeley.

Read more from Buzzfeed.

Biology

Chicago Professor Resigns Amid Sexual Misconduct Investigation:

“A prominent molecular biologist at the University of Chicago has resigned after a university recommendation that he be fired for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy. His resignation comes amid calls for universities to be more transparent about sexual harassment in their science departments, where women account for only one-quarter of senior faculty jobs.”

The professor, Jason Lieb, 43, made unwelcome sexual advances to several female graduate students at an off-campus retreat of the molecular biosciences division, according to a university investigation letter obtained by The New York Times, and engaged in sexual activity with a student who was ‘incapacitated due to alcohol and therefore could not consent.'”

Read more from the New York Times.

Construction

What It’s Like To Be One Of The Only Female Construction Workers In America:

“‘These men I worked with asked me out on dates, which was totally inappropriate, commented on my body, commented on my abilities,’ she said. That was the hardest part. ‘What bothered me the most was the sexual harassment and feeling intimidated.'”

Read more from ThinkProgress.

Education

“The professor ‘would routinely call her ugly, fat and … stupid in front of other students.'”

“The suit alleges he knew the graduate student was a recovering alcoholic and told her he wished she ‘would start drinking again because she would be more fun,’ and that ‘… she would be less stressed out if she had more sex.'”

Fitness

“She convinced the jury that the 69-year-old guru repeatedly sexually harassed her and subjected her to obscene comments about women. She also claimed she was fired after she tried to investigate another woman’s sexual harassment and rape allegations against him.”

Read more from ABC News.

Food

“Want a side of sexual harassment with your dinner? Twenty-two former employees who say it’s a permanent part of the seasonal menu at Juventino, a successful restaurant in Brooklyn’s Park Slope area, are sharing their stories on the internet in hopes they can give a voice to women everywhere who think that being groped, humiliated and worse comes with the service industry territory.”

Read more from Jezebel.

Geology field work

Years ago, two women allege, their team leader sexually harassed them in Antarctica. Now they are taking action:

“Boston University (BU) is investigating sexual harassment complaints made against a prominent Antarctic geologist by two of his former graduate students. The women allege that David Marchant, then an assistant professor, harassed them during different research expeditions starting two decades ago, while they were isolated in small groups in the Antarctic. In supporting documents and interviews, several other women report similar treatment from Marchant in that period.”

Read more from Science.

Health care

$168 Million Awarded in California Sex Harassment Suit:

“In a two-year period, however, Chopourian filed about 18 written complaints covering patient safety to sexual harassment to the fact that meals and break rules were not being followed. Her last filed complaint was received by human resources July 31, 2008. She was terminated Aug. 7, 2008.”

Read more from ABC News.

Improv comedy

“Sexual harassment in Chicago’s improv comedy community has, until now, been a problem kept under wraps, current and former performers told the Tribune — discussed by women only in private among themselves. But that changed earlier this week when a Facebook post from Charna Halpern, founder and owner of iO Theater, opened a floodgate of impassioned responses. In them, women recounted unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate remarks and a persistent fear of retaliation if they spoke up.”

Read more from the Chicago Tribune.

Indie films

After a sexual harassment scandal shattered the indie film world, women fought back:

“Devin Faraci – a prominent but controversial figure as editor-in-chief of Birth.Movies.Death – was accused on Twitter of a sexual assault that happened years before but was never reported. Though no charges were filed, Faraci didn’t deny the woman’s allegation and stepped down, keeping a mostly low profile.

“Then, on Sept. 11, just 10 days before Fantastic Fest, his byline was spotted in festival program blurbs.”

Read more from Mashable.

Journalism

Most Female Journalists Have Been Threatened, Assaulted, or Harassed at Work. Here’s Why We Don’t Talk About It:

“Sixty-four percent of the 875 respondents said they had experienced “intimidation, threats, or abuse” in the office or in the field. Most of the abuse was perpetrated by the journalists’ bosses, superiors, and co-workers. Forty-six percent of female journalists said they had experienced sexual harassment at work, including ‘unwanted comments on dress and appearance.’ That harassment was also overwhelmingly perpetrated by colleagues.”

Read more from Slate.

Law enforcement

New York City Settles Harassment Suit by 3 Female Police Officers:

“The lieutenant, Alexander Rojas, 44, had been accused in the lawsuit of groping the officers, exposing himself, showing them explicit videos and photographs of himself, and making sexually explicit comments.

“The lawsuit also accuses the lieutenant of retaliating against them after they rejected his advances by giving them less favorable hours and assignments. In one episode, Lieutenant Rojas hit one officer in the chest as he was grabbing files out of her hands, the suit claims.”

“… Lieutenant Rojas, who has retired from the , has denied the allegations in the lawsuit.”

Read more from the New York Times.

Military

Sexual Assault Reports in U.S. Military Reach Record High: Pentagon:

“Service members reported 6,172 cases of sexual assault in 2016 compared to 6,082 last year, an annual military report showed. This was a sharp jump from 2012 when 3,604 cases were reported.”

Read more from NBC News.

Nonprofits

Ex-Employees Allege Sexual Harassment at Women’s Networking Group:

“Four former employees of the National Association of Professional Women, a women’s networking group, have sued the organization and three of its executives, claiming that a manager had sexually harassed them and that their paychecks had been docked in violation of New York State labor law.”

Read more from the New York Times.

Politics

These women have accused Trump of sexual harassment:

“According to Leeds, a flight attendant upgraded her to first-class, escorting her to an open seat next to Trump. Once they were airborne, Trump raised the seat divider, grabbed her chest, and attempted to move one of his hands up her skirt, she said.”

Read more from CNN.

Public Relations

The fight to end sexual harassment in progressive politics:

“After FitzGibbon’s staffers reported more than a half-dozen incidents of sexual harassment and at least two dozen incidents of sexual assault to the firm’s human resources, according to The Huffington Post, the firm quickly shut down, with little notice to the staff that had been its backbone.”

Read more from Mashable.

Publishing

Amazon Publishing Chief Larry Kirshbaum Accused of Sexual Assault:

“Larry Kirshbaum, one of the most influential figures in the publishing world, stands accused of twice sexually assaulting his former mistress in 2010.”

Read more from The Atlantic.

Retail

21 Harrowing Stories Of Sexual Harassment On The Job:

“At a breakfast diner chain my manager put his arm around me and tried to kiss me one morning when I handed him a coffee. When I reported it, human resources required him to watch a sensitivity video and gave me a ten-cent raise. [At that diner] a cook trapped me in the cooler and groped me; a customer followed me to the parking and almost wouldn’t let me leave; and another cook pushed me into my car after my shift and unbuckled his pants. Food service is hell.“

Read more from The Huffington Post.

Tech

Uber fires more than 20 employees after sexual harassment investigation:

“The firings stem from an investigation by Perkins Coie, an international law firm that often works with startups and Fortune 500 companies. The firm had investigated 215 human resources-related problems within the company. These included cases of sexual harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination.

It took no action on 100 of these cases and is still investigating 57 other cases. It has decided on more than 20 terminations, according to Bloomberg, while 31 employees are in counseling and seven received written warnings.”

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